The Government of India Act, 1935, was a comprehensive Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in August 1935, that served as the final constitutional framework for British India before independence. Its origin lay in the growing demand for self-governance and the inadequacy of the earlier Government of India Act, 1919, with its provisions based on the Simon Commission Report and the Round Table Conferences. The Act aimed to respond to Indian political aspirations by increasing participation while retaining ultimate British control. It received Royal Assent on August 2, 1935, and its provincial parts came into force on April 1, 1937.
The Act's mechanism introduced Provincial Autonomy, abolishing the system of dyarchy at the provincial level and allowing elected ministers to manage departments. It proposed an All-India Federation of British Indian provinces and princely states, though this federal structure never fully materialized due to the refusal of the princely states to join. A key provision was the division of legislative powers into three lists: the Federal List, the Provincial List, and the Concurrent List. It also established a Federal Court in 1937 to interpret the Act and adjudicate disputes.
The Act connects directly to the Constitution of India, 1950, as it is considered the core foundation, with nearly 250 articles of the Constitution directly borrowed from its administrative provisions. The federal structure, the three-list division of powers, and the establishment of a Supreme Court were all adapted from the 1935 Act. The Act also led to the creation of the Reserve Bank of India. The Act was repealed on January 26, 1950, upon the commencement of the Indian Constitution. While the federal and administrative structures were retained, the controversial expansion of separate electorates was abandoned in the new Constitution.